Tk 1.89b stimulus for 10 Robi crops

Agriculture ministry has allocated Tk 1.89 billion in incentives to raise production of 10 crops in the upcoming winter or Robi season (Oct-Mar period).
Farmers will get seeds and fertiliser for free to boost the cultivation of wheat, maize, mustard, sunflower, groundnut, soybean, onion, mung, lentil and khesari.
Under this incentive scheme, more than 1.95 million small and marginal farmers across the country will get required seeds and fertilisers to produce crop on one bigha of land.
"Each farmer will get this incentive for cultivating any one of 10 crops," reads a media release.
"A farmer will get 20 kg of wheat seeds, 2.0 kg of maize, 1.0 kg of mustard/sunflower, 10 kg of groundnut, 8.0 kg of soybean, 1.0 kg of winter onion, 1.0 kg of mung/lentil seeds, 1.0 kg of khesari seeds and necessary fertilisers required for one bigha or 33 decimals of land."
This incentive will be provided from the ministry's regular budget agricultural rehabilitation assistance and seed and seedling sector, according to the release.
Agri officials said the distribution of the inputs would be kicked off at field level within weeks.
According to the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics, maize, mustard, sunflower and onion production has increased notably for the past five years.
On the other hand, wheat, lentil, khesari and mung production has remained almost static during the period in question.

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